Classical music lovers in Kansas City will have a rare opportunity to hear Noah Geller, concertmaster of the Kansas City Symphony, play a solo benefit recital at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, the last night of Hanukkah, in a concert presented by Temple Israel of Greater Kansas City. The performance will be at the Rolling Hills Campus, 9300 Nall in Overland Park, where Temple Israel currently holds its worship services.
A JEWISH THANKSGIVING — Many years ago when Rabbi Rick Shapiro, interim rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah, was studying in Israel he was homesick for an honest to goodness American Thanksgiving. So he and his HUC classmates in Jerusalem gathered together for a Thanksgiving meal. At that time Rabbi Shapiro decided to write a service for the occasion — a Thanksgiving Seder.
It all began with a conversation between two friends on their way to synagogue. Neil Sosland and Sidney Deutsch arrived at Congregation Ohev Sholom having decided that the time had come for a Jewish Day School in Greater Kansas City. So although multiple attempts to start a school here had failed, six sets of parents signed their names to the original Hebrew Academy charter on Jan. 21, 1966. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The recent crisis at the University of Missouri at Columbia over claims of racism brings to light another question: Do Jewish students suffer from anti-Semitism on the campus? The short answer is yes. But a more detailed answer is, it’s complicated.
On Tuesday, Johnson County District Judge Kelly Ryan formally sentenced Frazier Glenn Cross Jr. to death for the murder of William Corporon, Reat Underwood and Terri LaManno. He was convicted in August of capital murder and the jury recommended he be put to death in September.
In the continued effort to overcome tragedy produced by hatred, bigotry and ignorance, SevenDays — Make A Ripple, Change the World will again take place in Greater Kansas City. Sponsored by the Faith Always Wins Foundation in partnership with several organizations, SevenDays will include a series of community events scheduled April 12-18, 2016, that will continue the healing journey following the tragic events that took place outside of the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom in April 2014. Dr. William Corporon, his grandson Reat Underwood and Teresa LaManno lost their lives at the hands of a convicted Neo-Nazi shooter.
Sam Kulikov, a sophomore Jewish student at the University of Kansas and a member of Kehilath Israel Synagogue, is organizing a soccer tournament to honor the memory of his friend, Cady Housh, and her friend, Ciara Webb, both high school soccer players who committed suicide a year ago. “What better way to honor their memory than by playing the game they love,” he writes on the soccer tourney’s evite page. Through this tournament Kulikov hopes to also raise awareness for suicide prevention. All monies raised through the tournament will support Suicide Awareness Survivor Support (SASS) and other suicide prevention organizations in the metro area. SASS is a non-profit support group for those affected by a suicide started by and led in the greater Kansas City area by Bonnie Swade. The tournament takes place Nov. 21.
SuEllen Fried is one of 10 women selected from more than 6,000 nominees for the L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth award. L’Oreal Paris celebrates the intrinsic beauty and worth of all women through its belief that “every woman is worth it.” Women of Worth translates this into action by honoring extraordinary everyday women making a difference in their communities.
RABBI’S NEW DO — Last week at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial, Rabbi Vered Harris had her long locks snipped to be donated to Zichron Menachem in Jerusalem, where it will be used to make a human-hair wig for someone who has lost their hair due to cancer treatment. The former Congregation Beth Torah education rabbi who is now spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City, hopes to deliver it in person next month.
“During the last month Israel has been under terror attacks every day,” said Shiran Cohen, the community’s newest shaliach from Israel. These attacks make her realize how important her job is in the United States.
